Walking with Disaster
by Indilwenlily
Summary: Dick's adoption has been finalized, but new threats arise as the Joker returns for his big finale, again seeking help from another villain! It's now up to the team to find Robin before it's too late. T for violence. Slight Megaboy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to Walking with Disaster, the third and final installment of the Walking series. I have loved hearing from all of you and I want to thank you all for the reviews.**

**Robinlover22543 asked me how I find time to update so fast, ad here is my answer! I am homeschooled, so I have no homework, and my school doesn't take very long to finish, so it gives me more time during the day to be writing. Also, these may take a little longer, because I have more going on now, but I'm still gonna try to get them out quickly ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, or any other characters who may appear… unless there is one you don't know of ^^**

Prologue

Shivers went down my spine once again as the IV continued to send some unknown substance into my body. It had been three weeks. Three weeks of torture, laughter, fear, and pain.

I wanted Bruce. In fact, I needed him right then, as I heard the door opening.

I tried to focus on happy thoughts, and not what was going to happen to me next. _My parents, Bruce, the team, Alfred, school…_ I continued to think, not listening to the high pitched voice, or the laughter.

I felt the chair start rocking back and forth, causing my ankles to yet again move up and down, scraping against the wire that tied them to the bottom of the chair, opening up old, infected scabs. I felt the chair start to rock harder, pulling at the nails that had been hammered into my feet.

I felt lightheaded again, probably at the thought of losing even more blood than I already had.

_Alfred's amazing cooking, being adopted, becoming Bruce's heir…_ the thoughts continued, until I felt a slap across my face, forcing me back into reality.

"Are you ignoring me, Robbie?" the high voice rang out, sounding mock offended.

I felt the white hand cup my chin and pull it over to look into the eyes of the one and only Joker.

…to be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:****Soooo****nit****his****chapter,****there****will****be****a****cameo****of****my****superhero,****Scarlet****Jewel.****It****will****be****very****small,****though.****I****just****really****want****to****add****her****in****Here****'****s****a****picture****of****her,****if****you****want****to****see****her****.com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=Scarlet+Jewel#/d3cpet4**

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the characters… now can I not say this again please? I think it's been made obvious over the past few months that I don't own anything…

Chapter 1

So Happy I could Die

I ran out into the cold street, jumping up and down. The adoption had at last been finalized, and it was snowing. It couldn't have been much better. Bruce and Alfred came out behind me, both smiling.

"Why don't we go to that diner you love so much?" Bruce asked.

"A diner, Bruce? Really?" I asked, stopping my jump and staring at him. "The richest man in Gotham just adopted a kid, and you wanna go to a diner?"

"Well, I just thought it would be nice."

I laughed, "So get in the car and let's go!"

The diner was somewhat empty when we got there, but it was the middle of the afternoon, so it wasn't much of a surprise. I ordered my usual; cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I pulled off my black gloves when the food came, dropping them on the booth next to me. Alfred and Bruce sat on one side, so I had the other all to myself.

"Just to warn you, there's going to be a story about this now," Bruce said.

"What, 'Billionaire Bruce Wayne goes to diner'?" I asked.

Bruce laughed, "You know what I mean; about the adoption."

I nodded, "Of course there will be."

When we were done at the diner, we returned to the mansion before heading to Mount Justice. The League had a new mission for us. Recon in a town called Diceville, where Cobra was back at work trying to ship out Venom.

"Get the information and get back out," Batman said as we all stood around the screen that had a picture of the factory where the Venom was being created. "And don't get caught this time."

"Yeah, yeah," Wally said. "We got it."

We boarded the Bioship and took off. Diceville wasn't very far, so we got there quickly, landing in the woods.

"_We__'__re__all__linked,__"_ M'gann said into our minds.

"_Good,__" _Kaldur said. _"__Superboy__and__Robin,__you__two__will__go__in__to__get__the__information.__Superboy,__protect__Robin__at__all__costs;__he__can__hack__into__the__system__and__get__what__we__'__re__looking__for.__The__rest__of__us__will__make__sure__that__no__one__finds__you__two.__"_

We all nodded our approval of the plan and took off.

Superboy and I made our way past a couple of guards and into the building, where we crept along the halls, ducking into shadows to avoid guards. We finally got to the main control room and I set to work, connecting the USB of my glove computer to the buildings main system.

I typed furiously, until I finally go through.

"_Robin,__Superboy,__we__'__ve__been__compromised!__"_ Kaldur's voice screamed into my head. _"__Get__the__information__and__pull__back.__"_

"_Already__on__it,__"_ I said. _"__I__'__ll__buy__us__some__time__"_

Before Kaldur could reply, I took over the system, causing a lockdown of the building.

"_We__'__ll__have__a__few__more__minutes__now,__"_ I thought.

I didn't listen for a response, just kept at my work, hacking into the system until all of the information needed was in my computer.

I turned to Superboy and unhooked my USB. "Let's go."

He nodded, _"__We__'__re__heading__back__to__the__Bioship__now.__"_

"_Don__'__t__run__into__any__trouble__on__the__way,__"_ Kaldur said.

"Get ready to fight," I told Superboy as we approached one of the blockades they were released in the lockdown. I turned on my wrist computer and started typing, eventually ending the lock down.

As the blockade started lifting, men started firing. I pulled out my new, longer retractable stick and tracted it, spinning it several times as I flung myself through the small opening, whacking two men as they got too close.

Superboy followed after, punching men and smashing their heads together. After the first line of men were down, we ran through the hall, taking down guards as they approached.

We turned a corner and found ourselves face to face with Cobra, who gave us disappointed looks.

"So the Justice League still doesn't see me as a threat?" He asked. "I will just have to take care of you nuisances quickly."

"Sorry Cobbie, but I'm not in the mood," I said, spinning my staff and running at him, jumping into the air and swinging at his head. He didn't see when I dropped a line of Birderangs around him.

I felt his fist collide with my stomach and gasped for air. I tried to get away before the explosion went off, but he grabbed me by the cape. How I hated that thing.

"This is an insult," he said, eying me with disgust.

"Well, feel sulted that I gave you a whack at me," I said with a smirk as I used his arm to kick off, letting my cape fly off over my head. I flew back to where Superboy was fighting a group of lackies, just as the Birderangs went off.

Cobra jumped back, but the floor where he had been standing collapsed and left a gaping hole.

We took out the last of the workers and ran off in the other direction as I waved behind my back, yelling, "See you later, Cobbie!"

I glanced and saw him gripping my cape as if it were my neck, squeezing as hard as he could before throwing it to the ground in frustration. The flames from the explosion began to spread as we disappeared, so I let out my signature cackle.

"Sulted…" I eventually repeated to myself as we ran. "That was a good one!"

"Why do you insist on destroying the English language?" Superboy asked.

I shrugged. I really didn't know why, but all these words I seemed to come up with made perfect sense to me.

When we got back to the mountain, Batman was none too happy with the way the mission turned out. Sure, we were able to get the information he wanted, but we compromised ourselves… again.

"I can't see why all of these missions are so hard for you to accomplish without nearly getting killed," Bruce said, pacing around us.

"Well, if Kid Mouth hadn't fallen right into a group of shoulders, we—" Artemis started, but Batman cut her off.

"I don't want to hear the blame game. You guys need to learn to work as a team and actually complete a recon mission without being found out. It's not any single person's fault. It's all of you. I want you to have a… team bonding day."

Bruce turned and started walking to the Zeta Beam. "Let's go, Dick."

I nodded and ran after him, waving goodbye to the team.

I walked through the Zeta Beam and was in the Batcave, heaving a sigh of relief upon finally being home.

"Bruce—" I started, noticing the man's annoyance at another mission going wrong.

"Get to bed, Dick. It's going to be a long week," he said, removing his cowl and making his way to the computer where he would shut down the system.

I looked at the ground and nodded. I changed out of my Robin suit and made my way to the stairs, stopping when a familiar voice rang through my ears.

"Oooh Brucie!" the voice called. I turned around, shock evident on my face. There, on the massive computer screen, was the Joker, flashing his yellow smile. And beside him was a man who never should have mixed with the lunatic. Scarecrow.

…To be continued…

**A/N:****Oooh****yeah,****who****expected****that?****I****sure****didn****'****t!****haha****actually,****I****did****… ****but****not****when****I****had****the****plot****forming!****This****was****just****an****extra!****Weeeeeeeell****let****me****know****what****you****think!****I****'****m****thinking****the****next****chapter****will****be****up****tonight****or****tomorrowish****… **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I said that Scarlet Jewel would make an appearance in the last chapter… I kind of forgot, haha. She might be making an appearance in here, but I'm not sure. I'll give you warning if it happens ^^**

Chapter 2

Here it goes again

I turned to the screen upon hearing the voice. The mystery that even the World's Greatest Detective couldn't solve had finally been closed. The Joker knew our identities.

"Oh, Dickie, you're there too!" Joker squealed, his smile getting unnaturally wider.

"Dick, get out now," Bruce ordered, not taking his eyes off of the Joker.

"Oh, Brucie, you really didn't think you two would walk out of there in one piece, did you?" Joker asked, almost frowning. "You underestimate me!"

"Someone is going to notice that something's wrong," Bruce warned.

"And then what? Gordon shows up at your home and finds the Batcave?" Joker laughed and Scarecrow started cackling behind him.

The sight of the madmen together sent chills down my spine. Never in a million years had I imagined the Joker teaming up with Scarecrow. Cadmus was bad, but they were evil, not insane.

"Boy Blunder, don't tell me you're afraid," Joker sneered, apparently catching my slight inching toward the stairs.

"Why should I be?" I asked. "We've taken you down before."

"But here's the thing; these are my rules now, so you do what I say, or Batman gets a smile carved to his boring, mean face."

"Your men will never get into the cave, Joker. They'll never find the—" Bruce was cut off as the elevator came down and opened up, revealing about 15 men in clown costumes, all holding guns.

"Oh, but Brucie, they already have."

I ran down the stairs away from the approaching clowns, until I was next to Bruce.

"Utility belt still in your pocket?" Bruce asked, and I nodded, pulling it out and fastening it around my way.

"Never leave the room without it."

"Get to the Zeta Beam, and from there we'll get to the Watch Tower. They can't follow us there."

I nodded and grabbed my staff, twirling it above my head and running at the clown, Bruce following next to me, slashing at the offending men with Baterangs.

"You won't be getting out, Brucie!" Joker cried as more men came through the elevator.

"Dick, get out while you can."

"I'm not leaving you here, Bruce. We're going down together."

Bruce looked at me and nodded, "You were a good son," he said, and I could've sworn I saw tears in his eyes.

"And you were an awesome dad."

We ran back into the battle, taking out as many men as possible, but the elevator kept leaving and coming back down with more men.

I fought them off well as I could. It was late and I was tired, so I was starting to get slow. Before I knew it, one of the clowns shot at one of my hands, finally hitting it, causing me to release the staff.

"Bring the boy," Joker ordered. "Let's Bats live to fight another day."

I tried fighting with my hands, but my right was bleeding freely and it hurt to move my fingers, though I did my best. The last thing I knew, I was being smashed over the head with one of the guns, and then the world went black.

I opened my eyes before closing them quickly at the offending bright colors. My hand was bandaged, but my head felt like I had rolled off of that bed in the Princess and the Pea and landed on it.

I was in a bright purple room with a lime green carpet. The only furniture in the room was the chair I was chained to, though it wasn't what I was expecting; it was a rocking chair. One of the really annoying old fashioned ones that weren't comfy at all, but if rocked hard enough would flip over.

I tried to move my head, but found a metal collar connecting my neck to the head of the chair. My hands were cuffed to either arm, which was really stupid of the Joker, because it was extremely escapable. I was barely able to see my feet wrapped in several layers of thin wire and tied to the legs of the chair. My shoes were gone, but I wasn't very worried about that right now.

The next thing I noticed was an IV bag next to me filled with an almost-clear liquid, though it had a green tint to it. There was no needle in my arm, though, so I was safe from soon-to-be-tested drugs for the time being.

_Where__'__s__Batman?_ I wondered. Had they killed him back at the cave? Or was he being held captive too?

Wherever he was, the League would notice very soon that he was missing and start searching. And it never took the League too long to find one of their own, as far as I could tell.

I glanced around the room, trying to figure out a clue to where I might be, but there were no windows in the room. All I could do was wait until somebody came.

I couldn't decide who I was more afraid of seeing; Joker or Scarecrow. It really was a hard decision, because with Joker, it was unpredictable what would happen, whereas Scarecrow was straight to the point; fear.

Before I could make up my mind, though, Scarecrow came in, dimming the bright lights just enough to see.

"Well, Boy Wonder, shall we get on with it?" he asked, an eerie smile visible through the sack over his head. "Tell me, what are you afraid of in life?" He said, making his way to the IV poll and picking up the needle, before getting closer to me and turning one of my arms over to he could get to my wrist.

I didn't say anything. I just sat there, trying to be calm.

"Acrophobia, the fear of heights. What with your parents death, it would not come as a surprise. But no, you go out and fly over Gotham every night. Could it be agateophobia, the fear of insanity? I have heard stories of your time with the Joker, with the injections." I couldn't help but flinch when he brought the needle closer. "But of course, what would Batman say to that, or aichmophobia, the fear of needles?"

He shoved the needle into my arm, none too gentle about it, before continuing. "Basophobia, maybe? The fear of falling. It would make sense, but you wouldn't risk that every night above the streets of Gotham, now would you?"

He then turned on the IV, allowing the liquid to flow into my blood. It was freezing, and I couldn't help but shiver as whatever it was made it's way through my system. It felt wrong, and suddenly I felt like all I wanted was Bruce. I wanted him to tell me that it was going to be ok, but there wasn't a problem.

But then a thought occurred to me; why would Bruce care now? I _failed_ him. I got caught by the Joker again.

The whole world seemed to disappear from sight, and all I could see was Bruce standing above me, saying, "I never should have adopted you. It was a mistake that I won't make again. You're worthless to me now."

"Ah, so that's it," Scarecrow said, breaking through the fog. I couldn't see him, just hear him. "Atychiphobia, of course. The fear of failing."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, unable to stop myself. There was Bruce, staring down at me, looking so disappointed. "I-I didn't mean to…"

I felt the tears begin to fall down my cheeks as I continued to apologize.

"You were never good enough, Dick," Bruce said as he turned his back on me and began walking away. "You should have figured that out the moment you came back with that brand."

…To be continued…

**A/N: YES! I KNOW! I'M AN AWFUL PERSON! IT IS NO MYSTERY TO ME! Really, this was hard to write… I got the phobia's online. The Basophobia is one I am most familiar with, though, because I actually… have that… but, going on! I was reading Nightwing last night, I was pretty worried, cuz I realized that I didn't know much about how Scarecrow works, and then I discovered that the Nightwing I was about to read had Scarecrow! Hip hip hurrah!**

**Anyway, feel free to review, and I'll try to get another up tomorrow or Sunday, but I'm not sure if I can.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:****So,****someone****asked****me****what****my****reasoning****was****for****Joker****finding****the****Batcave.****It****will****be****revealed****in****this****chapter!****This****one****will****be****Bruce****and****Dick,****so****don****'****t****get****confused****when****it****changes.****I****have****marked****when****it****switched****to****Bruce.**

Chapter 3

Everything Burns

I didn't know when I passed out, but I did know that the nightmares stopped as soon as I woke up. All the disappointed looks from Bruce, the team being killed, Batman's grappling line snapping while he's flying over Gotham. It all stopped when I woke up.

And that was how this new Fear Gas worked; it took over your mind while you were asleep. So all I knew now was that I couldn't sleep. I couldn't deal with the fear.

I heard voices outside of the door and listened. It was Joker and Scarecrow.

"I'm going in there next!" That was Joker.

"But I could do such nasty things to him!" Scarecrow complained, sounding almost like a little boy.

"You already had your turn!"

"And you got him for a week!"

"But that's because _I_ kidnapped him that time! And besides; you can't bring the past into this! It isn't fair!"

"Fine then, but don't do too much damage."

"I'm not making any promises," Joker let out a loud laugh before his footsteps receded down the hall.

A few minutes later, the door was being swung open and Joker walked in carrying a massive box. He pulled a metal table over and set he box down, undoing the latches. I saw an evil gleam in his eye as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Well, well, well, Dickie, it's my turn now," he said, adding a cackle at the end as he threw his head back as if he were a mad scientist.

"What do you want, Joker? You know my identity already."

_Stay__calm_, I told myself. _Just__try__to__stall__and__figure__out__what__'__s__happening._

"Oh, but Robbie, we never got to finish our game last time!"

"No, I finished the game; you changed the rules."

Joker looked like he was trying to pout, but it just looked wrong, because his smile stayed. "Oh, we were just getting started."

I didn't say anything. Joker was a rule bender. You play his game, you reach the end when he wants you to.

"Of course, we can't go as far as I had hoped… Scary there doesn't want you… spoiled by the end."

_Note__to__self;__remember__to__thank__Scarecrow__for__keeping__the__Joker__in__check.__If__that__'__s__even__possible__…_

"Well, I'm still allowed to have my fun," Joker said, switching the IV bag with one full of a purplish liquid. "I guess we'll just have to start at the beginning. It'll make the fun last longer!"

He turned on the IV and I felt the ice cold liquid flow into my bloodstream, making its way through my body quickly.

And then there was numbness, and for some reason, it was funny. I tried to keep the laughter from escaping my lips, but I couldn't. I barely registered the IV being turned off after a minute as the giggles finally forced their way out of my mouth.

**Batman,****Watchtower**

"_Recognized,__Batman,__02,__"_ the voice rang out as Bruce Wayne hobbled into the Watchtower.

Superman was the first to respond to the computer's voice, "You forget something here?" he asked, making his way to where Bruce was, but then stopped. "What happened?"

Clark was at Bruce's side in an instant, supporting him before he collapsed.

"Joker knows about us," Bruce replied. "He found the cave… got Dick."

"Do you know where they are now?" Superman asked, bringing Bruce to the medical ward.

Bruce shook his head, "he said he wanted… to finish the game."

"Did he tell you anything else?"

"Scarecrow is with him."

Superman looked worried now, as he had Bruce sit down on one of the beds.

"Did he drop any hints as to where they were heading?"

"No… but he did say something else."

"What?" Superman asked.

"Said the Batcave should be…hidden better; too cliché."

Superman couldn't help but smile. "That's what we've been saying for years, Bruce."

Bruce sent him something in between and smile and a glare.

"I'll have J'onn come check you out, see if you have any injuries. I'm going to let the rest of the League know. And the team."

"I'm going to tell the team," Bruce said. "I hate to say it, but we're going to need their help this time in order to get him back."

"Do you really think they're ready to go up against Joker and Scarecrow?"

Bruce paused for a minute as if thinking about it, then nodded, "They're tough. They may not look it, but they are. And with Dick in danger yet again, they'd be out there helping even if we threw them in jail."

"I would expect nothing less from this team," Superman said before leaving the room.

Bruce sat in silence until J'onn came into the room. _Why__did__they__leave__me?_ He thought. _They__easily__could__have__taken__me__with__them__if__they__wanted,__but__Joker__only__wanted__Dick._

"Batman," J'onn said, coming into the room. "Superman has told me of what happened."

"I knew he would," Bruce said. "Patch me up the best you can, will ya?"

J'onn nodded and began his work, examining the billionaire.

"Nothing too serious," the Martian finally concluded. "A few tendons have been torn in your right leg, and you have a small concussion, along with some bruises, but nothing serious."

"Good. How long with it take for the tendons to heal?"

"About two weeks," J'onn said. "We'll do our best without you for now, though. You can go inform the team of what has happened."

J'onn bandaged Bruce's leg and handed him a set of crutches before leaving the room.

Bruce sighed and got up, making his way to the Zeta Beam. From there, he went to Mount Justice to find the team sitting on the couch, Wally and Artemis fighting over what they would watch.

"Batman, where is Robin?" Kaldur asked, being the first to notice the Dark Knight, but then he noticed that Batman wasn't Batman at the moment, and was steadying himself on a set of metal crutches. "Come, sit down."

Bruce accepted the invitation, and now the rest of the team noticed that something was wrong.

"Dude, where's Dick?" Wally asked, obviously still confused.

Bruce sighed and sat down across from the team, "Earlier tonight, the Joker found the Batcave. He knows mine and Robin's identities and was able to get into the cave."

He could tell that the team already knew where he was going, but he felt he had to finish, "He… got Richard."

The whole team looked like they had just discovered that Santa Claus didn't exist.

"That—that psychopath," Wally started, being the first to recover. "Got Dick?"

Bruce frowned and nodded. "We did everything we could to get away, but there were too many men. And Scarecrow is involved."

Artemis felt her heart stop. She had been familiar with Scarecrow's powers, being from Gotham.

"Wait, so Robin is with Scarecrow, _and_ the Joker? Alone?" Artemis asked. "And you let that happen?"

"Artemis, stop!" Kaldur ordered. "It was nobodies fault!"

"But he's Batman," Artemis said. "He's practically invincible! He was right there and they got away with Robin!"

"I'm _not_ invincible, Artemis," Bruce said. "I'm sorry if you thought that I was. But you must know that I did everything in my power to stop them, but like I said—we were outnumbered, two to a hundred."

"We will get him back," Kaldur said. "They can't have gotten too far in just a few hours."

"The League is already searching," Bruce said. "I'm going to be running things from the Watchtower until I'm healed. Superman will be coming by in the morning with more information for you guys. Until then, get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

…To be continued…

**A/N: Wow… this chapter was… semi-productive? I really wasn't feeling it today, but I was at the same time, so I kind of did the best I could. At least I got something up, though ^^**

**Also, I went out and got 4 Batman movies, for $15! I think I deserve a pat on the back!**

**Love flavoured kudos for whoever can tell me what "I could do such nasty things to him!" was from!**

**Also, I had a question from a reader, and I just want you to know, I have not forgotten; I have been thinking long and hard about this when I've had time to myself, so I will hopefully have an answer for you in the next chapter ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:****Ok****,****so****if****I****remember****this****time,****Scarlet****Jewel****will****be****in****this****chapter!****She****will****have****a****part****to****play****in****the****story,****so****please,****if****you****don****'****t****like****OC****'****s,****then****either****deal****with****it,****or****stop****reading.****I****haven****'****t****used****one****in****a****while,****so****it****'****s****just****really****tempting****to****add****her****in****here****…**

**Also, TheGrayson alerted me to my italics being crazy, so I am trying to do two spaces in between them for now. I think it may be FF, but just to be safe…**

Chapter 4

The Sweet Escape

I heard screaming in the hallway. It was the Joker's screams, crying, begging for mercy. The door slammed open and I saw the Joker's motionless body sliding down the wall, leaving a long trail of blood, which was almost splattered along the wall, floor and ceiling.

Standing in front of the Joker was a black shadow with horns. Batman.

I tried called out to him, but my throat felt like it had been sliced open and stitched back up from all of the laughter of the past hour.

Bruce knew I was there, though. He came to me and quickly undid the collar around my neck, and then the wires around my ankles. I cringed as he pulled the offensive material out of the cuts in my skin.

"Bruce…" I said slightly. It was all I could manage.

"I'm here now, Dick," he said, wrapping his arms around me after picking the locks on the handcuffs, which now seemed much harder to remove than before. "It's gonna be fine."

"Joker?" I asked. I knew what the answer was, but I just had to be sure.

"He's dead. Along with Scarecrow, and everyone else I found in this God-forsaken place."

I pulled out of the hug. "We don't kill."

"Dick, they kidnapped you, out of our home. Besides; it's time we taught these criminals a lesson. They escape from prison, but it takes a very special person—like yourself—to escape from death."

"Bruce… it's wrong."

"We'll discuss this more when we get home," he said, picking me up bridal style and walking into the hallway.

I almost lost whatever was left in my stomach at what I saw; there was blood, everywhere. All along the hall were dead clowns and blood splatters painting the walls, floors and ceiling.

"Batman!" I heard Wally call, before seeing him running down the hall. "You found him!"

"Wally! What are you—" before I could finish, Wally had three Baterangs protruding out of his chest.

"Batman!" I shrieked, all pain in my throat forgotten. "That's Kid Flash!"

"I told you," he said, tightening his grip on me when I tried to get out of his arms. "I killed everyone in this place."

"But he's on our side!" I yelled. "He's my best friend!"

"You'll get a new best friend," Bruce said, stepping over Wally's lifeless body. "You're not going to be Robin any longer. You're now Dick Grayson, and you are hanging up the cape when we get back to the cave."

"Bruce, that isn't—"

"I can't lose you, Dick!"

I sighed. We would argue later. I was on the verge of tears still. My father had just murdered my best friend!

I again tried to get out of Bruce's grip, but he just tightened it. "Dick, we're going home."

We finally reached the exit and I couldn't stop the tears this time; sprawled all across the grass outside of the building were my friends. Kaldur, looking eerily like his clone did when he got eaten by the Wolves in Insane Land. Artemis had one of her own arrows jabbing out of her head, while M'gann had burns covering her body as she lay on top of Superboy, who was in a circle of Kryptonite.

"What did you do?" I whispered.

"I killed them."

I finally got myself out of his grasp and fell to the ground.

"Artemis?" I asked, rushing over to her body. There was no answer. Of course there wouldn't be; she was dead!

I could see Kaldur's chest slightly rising and falling.

"Ro…bin…" he said, and I half ran, half crawled over to him.

"Kaldur, no! Hang in there!" I begged, tears running down my cheeks and finally finding their way out of my nose.

"Do…not…cry…" Kaldur said. "You…are…alive…"

"Kaldur, stop it!" I yelled.

"I…am…glad…" he didn't say anything else; just took one last, shaky breath and closed his eyes.

"KALDUR'AHM!" I screamed. I started pounding on the ground in front of me, over and over again, saying "no, no, no, no!"

I heard air blowing and risked a glance up, just in time to see Superman flying in.

"Bruce," Clark said, looking around. "What have you done?"

"What was necessary."

Clark looked like he was ready to kill the other man, but then came to me and picked me up. I didn't care this time; my friends were all dead, besides Roy, of course, but it made no difference. My father had murdered all of my friends, for no reason.

"Give him to me, Clark," Bruce said.

"You're going to Arkham," Clark said. "You just murdered every one of these people. All these kids, Bruce! _Kids!_"

"They were in my way."

"You're not fit to raise a child, Bruce. The rest of the League is on their way."

Before I knew it, Clark was taking off, into the dark sky. I heard Bruce screaming for Clark to come back, but the Kryptonian ignored him.

I saw the other League members coming and looked down as they began trying to calm Batman down. He refused, and then things got violent. I couldn't watch as the whole League teamed up against my father.

I looked back down and what I saw terrified me; Batman, toppling over with an arrow in his stomach. The once green grass stained with even more blood as my father fell over, onto the arrow, causing it to protrude all the way through his body.

I pressed my face against Clark's chest as he kept flying, holding onto me and rubbing circles on my back.

"Dick," Clark said, stopping in midair.

"Wh—what?" I asked, looking up at the Kryptonian.

"You shouldn't be so trustworthy," Superman said, before releasing his grip on me.

I screamed as I plummeted to the ground, picking up speed as I fell, right in top of Bruce, on top of the arrow that stuck out of his back.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep. I kicked myself for giving in so easily, but then realized what had woken me up in the first place. There was a little sound coming from above me.

I glanced up as high as I could and saw a very small window that I hadn't noticed before. Outside the window was a girl's face. My first thought was Artemis, but this girl had red eyes and red and black hair.

The window was barred, but she somehow managed to open the glass part of it.

"Kid," she said in a low, whispered voice. "What's you're name?"

I considered for a minute whether I should tell her my real name, or my hero name.

"Robin," I told me. "I work with—"

"Batman," she finished for me. "I've heard."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Scarlet Jewel," she replied. "Look, we don't have much time, but I walk by this building all the time and was hearing weird noises, so I decided to check it out. What's going on here?"

"Joker and Scarecrow," I told her. "They teamed up and snatched me out of the Batcave."

"They got into the Batcave?" she asked. "Must be some kind of cliché entrance."

"Do you have powers?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yeah. I would break through the bars and come in to get you, but their made of Kryptonite."

"Is there any way out then?" I asked.

"I haven't noticed any guards around lately. If you can get out of the chair, I can come around the front and meet you half way. The door is unlocked."

"How do you know?"

"I have my ways."

I looked at the handcuffs and did the logical thing; I moved my arms to the side of the chair and simply flicked them off of the chair arms. That was the easy part. I reached up to the collar next and felt around until I found two buttons—one of either side—and pushed them, releasing the metal and giving me some more breathing space. I looked down at the wire and cringed at the thought of having to pull it out of my skin. It wasn't too deeply in, but it still hurt.

I got up and made my way to the door. I tested the doorknob, which was, in fact, unlocked. I turned to ask Scarlet Jewel how she knew it was unlocked again, but she was gone. _Figures_, I thought. _She__had__to__be__a__ninja,__too._

I listened for noise coming from the hallway, then cracked the door and peeked out. The hall was empty, so I grabbed the handcuffs in case I needed a weapon, and made my escape

I ran down the hall, sticking to shadows and corners, checking before running into the open.

I reached a flight of stairs and confirmed my suspicions that I was being held in a basement. I listened for any clowns coming down, and ran up. I reached the landing, then heard a door open and close, very quietly, and a "click, clack" running down the stairs.

I had nowhere to hide, so I thought fast. I jumped underneath the flight of stairs going up, holding onto the bottoms of the steps and hoping that whoever was coming didn't think to look there for any reason.

I held my breath and inched into the corner, up against the wall. I was incredible grateful that I didn't have my cape, because that would have made this stunt impossible to pull off.

Glancing over, I saw the figure run by. It was a girl, with red and black, high heeled boots, a black leotard with shorts, one long, red sleeve and the other side sleeveless. She had a black wrap around her elbow with no sleeve, and a black chocker with scarlet beads hanging down. Her eyes were fiery red and her hair was black with red streaks. _Scarlet__Jewel._

"Psst," I whispered. Her eyes turned and looked at me.

"It's clear over here," she said. "I sent the guards on a wild goose chase to the other end of the building."

I nodded and jumped out of my hiding spot, my bare feet landing silently on the metal stairs.

She looked me over once before stating, "You look like crap," in an incredibly bored voice.

"Well, excuse me, Princess," I said, quoting one of my favorite shows from when I was a kid.

She smirked, "Very cute. Now let's get out of here before they figure out what's going on."

I nodded and allowed her to lead the way out and into the main hall.

"There they are!" I voice called from behind us, and I saw dozens of Clowns running down the hall.

"Run!" Scarlet said, and I did, running down the hall away from the Clowns, only to be cornered by none other than myself in purple with an army of me behind him!

…To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ok, for starters, to answer this question I mentioned two chapters ago. Rob, I have had my own share of family issues, and I think the best thing you can do at this point is give your cousin space. Also, leaving his mom to "get her act together" on her own may not be the best idea. Everyone needs a stepping stone to cross the river (that sounded really cheesy….) but again, just give them space, maybe, if she is on drugs, help get her in to rehab. Now, I haven't had any kind of problems like this with my family, because it's been mostly willingly getting away from them, but I think the best you can do is just be there for him and try to help him understand that living with you guys may not be as bad as he thinks it'll be. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. I will be praying for you guys ^^ (") (That's God giving you a hug)**

**Onto numba 2! I need chapter title ideas! I really think coming up with the title takes longer than writing the chapter itself… so if you have any ideas that pertain to this theme/plot, feel free to share them! ^^**

Chapter 5

Don't Wanna See You Go

"Take this!" SJ said as a line of beads appeared in the palms of her hands. She ripped them off and handed me to long ropes. They were stiff like sticks, which was weird, because they were beads.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Sticks. Cool ones. Now less talking, more fighting."

Why did I always get to be with the silent girls?

I started swinging the sticks and ran at the clones, whacking at them and disarming a few of them of their glaives. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Scarlet Jewel stabbing clowns and clones with her beads, which entered through one side of the enemies and came back out the other, pinning them to walls.

"Robin, get out, now," she ordered. "I'll hold them off."

"I'm not leaving you here with Joker and Scarecrow."

"Well I'm not leaving without you."

More clowns came down the hall and I ran to Scarlet and grabbed her arm. "Go to Mount Justice, tell them where I am. I'll be fine… oh, and sorry, cuz this isn't going to be very asterous." I pulled her to the nearest window against her will and shoved her through it, breaking the glass in the process. "Fly, you fool!" I called after her in my best Gandalf imitation.

I saw a slight look of fear on her face, then a look of understanding and she sent beads flying out of her hand, attaching them onto a streetlight and flying off.

I tossed the sticks of beads out the window, throwing them as hard as I could. I fought my way through, throwing punches and kicks as I made my way to the fallen fighters, pulling the lines of beads out of their bodies and tossing them out of the broken window.

I picked up one of the bodies, using it to fight off other enemies and then tossed it out the window. The man was dead already, so I didn't feel as bad.

I had told Batman that I wouldn't kill anyone unless it was a dire situation, and it couldn't be helped. I think this was one of those. I picked up a fallen gun and started shooting. The bullets came out around the same size as Scarlet's beads, so no one would know that I had a partner in trying to escape. It would just be me, which meant that they wouldn't move me to another town or building.

"Dickie!" I heard Joker's voice ring out. "Leaving early? We haven't even finished our game yet!"

"Sorry, not interested," I said, inching to the window. I could jump out. But I didn't have a grappling hook, and there was nothing close to grab on to. I would be jumping out to my death.

"This will require drastic actions, Joker," Scarecrow was now behind me.

"Ok, ok, we'll hold him down tighter," Joker said, getting an evil glint in his eyes.

One of the Robin clones came up to me and grabbed my arms, while another jabbed me in the stomach with the handle of his glaive, knocking the air out of me.

I was dragged back to the basement and shoved into the chair, where the metal collar was locked around my neck. The clones pulled out new wire and wrapped it around my feet, not caring to allow wiggle-room. They locked new handcuffs around my wrists and the arms of the chair.

"That's not going to work," I said. "I'll just break out again."

Joker came in with a hammer and a box of nails. "Oh, Dickie, that's all covered!' he cooed as he picked out a rather large nail. "Now, don't flinch!"

Before I could figure out what was going on, I saw the nail aligned with the center of my hand. The hammer was slammed down, breaking through the bone and stabbing into the wooden arm of the chair in the second swing. He did the same to the other hand as the clones held my arm down. I tried to fight out of their hold, but they wouldn't let go. I didn't scream, though, but I felt tears making their way into my eyes.

"Hold his legs," Joker said, which didn't make much sense; I was unable to move my legs out of the way with the wires, but the clones held on tight as two more massive nails were hammered in, the sound of bone breaking echoing through the room.

Joker laughed harder than I'd heard him laughing in a long time, as he saw the first couple of tears making their way down my face.

"Scream, Boy Blunder!' he shrieked, jumping up and down like a maniac.

"Joker, get out of there!" Scarecrow's scratchy voice ordered. "You get your turn tomorrow! If anyone gets to be in there, it's me!"

"Oh, fine you old fart!' Joker pouted, if possible, and started sulking before turning and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

**Scarlet Jewel, Outside**

Scarlet Jewel flew through the air and made her way onto a rooftop. She had to get to Mount Justice, so she had to figure out how to get to Happy Harbor without drawing too much attention to herself.

She scanned the area, trying to decide the best route, before jumping off of the roof and letting her beads stab into the wall of a building, lifting herself up.

"Don't let her get away!" she heard a deep voice order and saw an army of clowns standing beneath her. They all started shooting at once, aiming a lot better than normal lackies did.

She winced as a bullet hit her shoulder and another grazed her side.

She quickly lifted herself onto the roof as best as she could before running to a fire escape and making her way down. When she reached the bottom, she took off running down the street, out of the alley and onto the main road. She had super speed, though she wasn't as fast as Kid Flash. She also lacked his speedy healing.

She kept on running for hours until she finally reached the beach with the massive mountain. She held her shoulder in pain as it continued to bleed, though it had slowed down slightly. She had used her belt to wrap around the wound in her side, and the bleeding had nearly stopped, but there was still a slight trickle.

She made her way to the mountain, walking now. She was exhausted and one of the heels on her boots had snapped a while back. She felt extremely dizzy as she got closer to the mountain.

She saw a spot for an opening in the side, so she made her way over and had almost reached the opening when an alarm went off.

"_Intruder__alert!__Intruder__alert!__"_ a computerized voice rang out, and the top of the mountain opened up to reveal several machine guns and rockets, ready to fire on her if she got too close.

The entrance opened and Kid Flash ran out, standing beside her and looking up at the guns, "Dude!" he exclaimed. "New security is sah-weet!"

"Can you please get the guns off of me?" Scarlet Jewel asked. "I have a message from…" she never finished as the dizziness, exhaustion and blood loss all kicked in at once, causing her to fall to the ground.

…to be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ok, so I have another plot idea for my next story! Just thought I would share that… it should be out at the beginning of November, because my mom wants me to do this novel-writing thing for November, which is National Novel Writing Month, and they count Fanfiction for it. Also, I have a book I would recommend you guys get! It's called Tales of the Batman, and it is a collection of short stories written by all different authors about the adventures of Batman, and some of Robin. I'm only on the third story, but I must say, if you're looking for something to read, check it out (haha I'm listening to that song ^^)**

Chapter 6

Trust Me

When Scarlet Jewel finally woke up, her situation wasn't what she expected. She was in a hospital bed inside the mountain, and on her hands were gloves and leather restraints on her wrist.She tried to release beads through the gloves, but her power backfired.

"Graphene," a voice said, and she looked over and saw who must have been Superboy standing in the doorway. "New paper that's ten times stronger than steel."

"What's that for?" she asked. Why would they put those one her when they didn't know her powers?

"It's a precaution," a new voice said. She turned and saw Batman coming out of the shadows, walking with crutches. He dropped a file onto her lap, "Scarlet Jewel. You've been fighting crime for three years, yet your mother is none other than the Scarlet Queen, a villain who only targets men."

"So what?' she asked, looking between the two, before she finally caught on. "Wait, so you think I'm a villain now?"

"Why else would you be here?" Superboy asked.

"Because I came to help you find Robin."

Batman's head shot up, "You know where he is?"

She nodded, "I talked to him."

"Where is he?" Bruce asked.

"Diceville," she replied.

"I don't trust her."

All three turned and saw Roy shoving his way past Superboy.

"Why not?" Superboy asked.

"It could be a trap. She could be working for Joker."

"You really think I'd join the Joker after fighting crime for three years?"

"How come I haven't heard of you?" Roy asked.

"Different towns?" she offered. "Oh, and who are you supposed to be?"

"Red Arrow," Roy said.

"Oh, right, Green Arrow's sidekick."

"I'm not his sidekick."

"Have it your way," I said. "But you sure sound like a sidekick with a name like 'Red Arrow'."

"Both of you, shut up," Superboy ordered. "Jewel, where is Robin?"

"Lab in Diceville," she replied. "I'll take you if you remove the restraint."

"You're not going anywhere," Bruce said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"You lost a lot of blood; you're in no condition to be going out there."

"I'll close the wound."

"Besides, I want to be the one to take Joker down."

"Wait, do you're going to let Robin stay with Joker _and_Scarecrow, all because you have a grudge?"

"Exactly. Robin is strong; he'll be fine."

"Robin would rather Batman be there to get him, anyway," Roy said, narrowing his eyes.

"You can stay here until then, if you'd like," Bruce said. "Just… watch out for Kid Flash."

The man nodded to Superboy, who removed the graphene gloves and restraints. "I'm Superboy, by the way."

"Got another name?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her wrists where the restraints had been applying pressure.

Batman nodded to the clone and he said, "Conner."

"What, we're telling her our identities now?" Roy asked, turning to Batman. "Do you really trust her?"

"I do," Bruce said. "She seems to know exactly where Bruce is, and she's from the Diceville area. I don't doubt her."

Roy stormed out of the room and the computer announced his departure. The rest of the team ran into the room, and Kid Flash was the first one at Jewel's side.

"So, Beautiful," Wally said, leaning against the bed. "I'll share my identity if you share yours."

"Baywatch, weren't you obsessed with M'gann like, yesterday?" Artemis asked, crossing her arms.

"But then we broke the news to him," M'gann said, floating over to Scarlet Jewel. "I'm M'gann, but on earth, you can call me Megan. It's kind of my earth name."

"I'm Artemis," the archer said. "Just Artemis."

Wally smiled at Scarlet Jewel, "I'll Wally. And if I were a pirate, my parrot would be right—" he paused and put his arm around her shoulders. "Here!"

That earned him a slap in the face.

"Don't you ever try that again," Jewel snapped.

Kaldur finally stepped forward, "Please, Scarlet Jewel, ignore him. My name is Kaldur'Ahm, though you may call me Kaldur."

SJ nodded, "I'm Susanne," she said, deactivating her powers as her black and red hair faded into plain black and her eyes turned brown.

"Whoa!" Kid Flash said. "Built in costume!"

**Robin, Diceville**

Two days. It had been two days since Scarlet Jewel left, and I had the nails hammered into his flesh. These scars I wouldn't be able to cover up, so I had no idea how they would explain to my school how I got them.

Scarecrow had come in the mornings with his new fear drug, which he would use and put me to sleep for a few hours. About an hour after I would wake up sweating, Joker came in with laughing gas.

I honestly didn't know which was worse; the fear gas, or the laughing gas. The laughing gas hurt physically, but the fear gas was like a barrage of mental bullets, shooting me everywhere that wouldn't kill me. Just enough to hurt, and keep me alive.

I didn't allow myself to cry after the nails. I wanted to, so many times, I just wanted to let it all out, but I couldn't. I couldn't give Joker the satisfaction, and I couldn't wipe my eyes afterwards.

I heard the door opening and saw Joker coming in with his laughing gas. Every day went another 15 minutes, but even that couldn't entertain Joker forever. He would switch tactics soon, even if Scarecrow didn't want him to. I knew the crowbar would be coming out soon.

I didn't bother trying to fight against the restrains anymore. I could normally easily break out, but the nails made it impossible. I would have just lifted my hands and ignored the pain, but they were long enough that no matter how high I lifted my hands, the nails would remain in the chair and the handcuffs would keep me from going any farther.

"Dickie?" Joker asked as he strutted in, stopping in front of me and looking me in the eye. "What's the matter?"

I didn't say anything. "Answer me." Still nothing. "Don't just sit there!"

I broke eye contact and I could tell her was getting angry now. "Why," he said, slapping me across the face. "So." He slapped me again. "SERIOUS?" he punched me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me.

He then started laughing to the point where he fell over onto his back, holding his stomach as if it would burst. "You're just like Bruce," he said. "Depressingly boring!"

He pulled out a syringe this time, instead of using the IV. He didn't explain anything, just did the usual; injected me, then sat back and watched, laughing along.

**The Young Justice League, Mount Justice**

It had been a week since Scarlet Jewel got there. Batman was walking normally again, and the bullet wounds in Susanne's side and shoulder had become mere scratches.

Black Canary entered the mountain holding a massive box. She made her way to the infirmary where J'onn was giving the OK to go get Robin.

"I was hoping I could catch you before you left," she said, setting the box down on a table next to the bed where Susanne sat. "I had something made," she motioned to the box.

Susanne reached over and pulled the massive box onto her lap, opening it and finding a pair of red, above the knee boots. Underneath the boots was a black spandex costume with a belt matching her old one, red sleeves that covered her breasts and a new, sharp scarlet sai.

"I—I don't know what to say…" Susanne said, looking at the new costume, pulling out the costume and finding Kevlar lining in it.

Black Canary smiled, "Welcome to the team."

Susanne looked up and saw Kaldur in the doorway. "We are ready," the Atlantean said.

SJ nodded and stood up, making her way into a room, she slid on the new costume, taking in the sight in the mirror. She stepped into the hallway and made her way to where the team was waiting. She heard Wally whistle to himself, very quietly.

"You ready?" Batman asked, and the team plus Susanne all nodded. "Then let's go save Robin."

…To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ok, so do you see what is happening? I am all out of chapter name ideas! I used them all in my last two stories! So this one, I got from the Potter Puppet Pals, Wizard Angst… I hope you people are happy now…**

**Also, this is where my brain has gone….com/watch?v=eWM2joNb9NE seriously, if you have a heart, watch it…**

Chapter 7

Angst, Angst, Angst…

"Last chance!" Scarecrow's voice rang out into the room. "Let me inject him, then you can have your fun; I'll hold them off."

I opened my eyes. It had been a week. My hands and feet were covered in blood, though every day, the wounds in my feet would be opened, as Joker had an obsession with rocking the chair back and forth, forcing my feet off of the ground and scraping them along the nails.

The door burst over and Scarecrow made his way over, his heavy footsteps pounding against my aching head. I didn't bother saying anything as he turned on the IV and left the room.

Joker entered a few moments later, a crowbar held tightly in his hands. "Nighty-night, Dickie! It's the end of the game!"

The cuff around my neck was removed, and I could feel the cold air flowing against the raw skin. My chin immediately fell to my chest as I was unable to hold it up any more.

Joker didn't say anything, simply laughed like the maniac he was as he raised the metal bar, letting it fall onto my stomach. He continued to laugh as he slammed it down, over and over.

All I could do was sit there and wait for him to stop, as my hands and feet were still bound. I blacked out for a few seconds when he smashed my head with the offensive weapon, before moving onto my left arm, raising the bar above his head and slamming it onto my arm, just beneath the elbow.

I couldn't help but cry out as I heard the bone shattering under the pressure.

"I've been hoping to clip your wings for a loooong time!" he said in a sing-song voice, moving on to my other arm, but then stopped when he heard voices in the hallway. "Or maybe we'll just move straight to your legs!" he smashed the bar down on my kneecap, and I let out another cry of pain.

He moved back to my chest and stomach, continuing to hit me until I could barely register that he was still there. It all became a blur of pain, darkness, and laughter, until I heard the door slam open yet again, and a cry of pain find it's way from the Joker.

"Dick!" I heard someone yell. I couldn't bring my head up to see who it was, but then I felt the strong arms wrapping around my body as much as possible. The arms pulled away and I felt a hand come up to my face, holding my head up. "We need to pull the nails out, ok?"

I gave as much of a nod as I could and got ready for the pain. I heard gasps as I saw a yellow and red blur run in. Not Wally, I didn't want Wally to see it. He always saw when something beyond awful was happening. He watched as I died in Bruce's arms, and now he was here to see Bruce remove nails from my hands and feet.

I felt a nail in my right hand being pulled out, and then it was nothing, just darkness, and the faint calls of my name coming from the team.

The next thing I was aware of was laughter. High pitched, shrill laughter. I opened my eyes weakly and saw Joker standing there, a knife in his hand and Batman laying at his feet.

"I killed the Batman! I killed the Batman!" he sang, dropping the knife and running around the room dancing, pointing his toes as he did leaps through the air.

The neck cuff was still off, but the nails were back. I looked around the room and the sight terrified me; Kid Flash was sat up against one wall, both of his legs twisted had disgusting angles with the bones sticking out in several spots and blood streaming down his chest. There was a small, metal cabinet with flames licking at a small opening, and a green hand could be seen slamming on the flame-proof glass. Superboy was surrounded by a ring of Kryptonite, just like in my dream when Batman killed him, and Artemis was lying against the wall, knives sticking out of her in several places. Aqualad was nowhere to be seen.

"Ooh Dickie! You're finally up!"

I didn't say anything, just took in the sight of my friends, battered and broken, and my father… lying on the ground, dead.

Joker pranced over to me and pat my head, "Guess what!" He said, looking like a little boy who had just caught a frog in a stream.

Again, I stayed silent. "I," he said, pointing to himself, "killed," he ran a hand across his throat and stuck his tongue out. "BATMAN!" he yelled the last one, sticking his fingers on the top of his head as if to make bat ears and then pointed at the body on the ground, before jumping up and down again, clapping his hands and laughing.

"And before that, I killed Flash Boy, and Arrow Girl, and Superman Jr.!" he ran over to the metal cube and peeked in before clapping his hands again "AND THE MARTIAN!"

"Where's Aqualad?" I asked.

Joker seemed to ponder this for a moment before answering, "Let's see… I think I pushed him off of the building."

I glared at him, giving him the best bat-glare I could muster through the tears that threatened to make their way down my face.

Joker jumped back as if in shock, "Richard!" he said, holding a hand to the place where his heart would be if he had one. "Don't cry now!"

_Crap!_ I thought. He saw the tears trying to break fear. "Scarecrow?" I asked, just out of curiosity.

"Hmm… that's a good one. I let him go… six feet under, that is!" he started laughing all over again, falling over onto his back and into a puddle of blood. He stood up and looked at his back, then frowned as much as possible, "This is a new suit! I'll be back, Bird Brain!"

He turned and left the room, leaving me alone with the bodies of my friends and father. I finally let the tears fall as the door slammed shut. I sobbed so hard that my sore body ached from being beaten with the crowbar. I lost track of time, but eventually the tears ended as I felt a strange feeling comfort and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

**Young Justice (Because I could never really kill Batman or the team off for real ^^)**

Bruce sighed as he felt his son's small body fall against his chest as his eyes closed. He wasn't worried about the boy passing out; he knew that his injuries weren't fatal, but there was still a risk, so he removed the other two nails quickly.

He heard Wally and Artemis both cringe as he removed the wire of inside the boy's ankles. It bled slightly, but stopped after a couple of minutes.

"Miss Martian, get the Bioship ready," Bruce ordered, picking the lock on the handcuffs and removing them, letting them fall to the ground as he gently lifted his son into his arms.

M'gann nodded and left the room without a word.

"Batman," Artemis said, moving to his side. "Is he-?"

"No," Bruce said quickly. "He'll be fine. Robin is strong; he's going to pull through."

Bruce then pushed past the team and into the hall, making his way up the stairs and into the Bioship.

The team followed, entering the ship to find Batman already buckled in, holding onto Robin as if he would fall apart if the man let go. The team all took their seats and they were on their way.

"… Where's Aqualad…?" Batman looked down at the sound of his son's voice.

"He's here," Bruce replied, shifting the boy in his arms.

Dick didn't reply. A few minutes later, another question came. "Scarecrow?"

"Gone, with the Joker," Bruce said. "They're on their way back to Arkham.

"What's he talking about?" Susanne asked.

"I'm not sure," Bruce answered. "He seems to be in and out of consciousness, but… he hasn't opened his eyes."

"Could he be dreaming?" Artemis asked."

"He could be," Bruce replied before feeling the boy's body begin to shake. He looked down and saw tears streaming down his son's face, soaking the t-shirt the boy was wearing.

"What's happening?" Wally asked, watching his best friend with a worried expression.

"He's having a nightmare," Bruce explained, before looking down and shaking the boy gently. "Robin, wake up."

After a few minutes, he finally accepted that Dick wasn't going to wake up, so he just held him in his arms, holding the boys head in his hand and whispering silently to him.

The Dark Knight looked up when his son finally stopped crying and saw the team all giving him odd glances, "When I first took him in, he was 9 and was having nightmares for the first couple of weeks. This always calmed him down when that happened."

The rest of the ride was silent until they reached the Mountain, where Black Canary was waiting in the infirmary.

They immediately set Dick on one of the hospital beds and began evaluating this injuries, fixing what they could, stitching up the holes in his hands and feet, setting the broken bones and putting a thick cast on his leg.

"How is he doing?" Aqualad asked as Black Canary exited the room, heaving a sigh of relief.

"He's fine," she said, leading the Atlantian out into the sitting room where the team was waiting. "His knee cap was shattered, and one of his arms, along with several ribs were broken. He has a concussion, but until he wakes up, we won't know how bad it is. We were able to patch up the holes in his hands and feet, and his ankles weren't too bad. He'll be out of commission for a while, though."

"Can we see him?" Wally asked.

Canary shook her head, "Batman is in there with him right now and is going to be taking him back home. He's trying to come up with a story to tell the school at this point. He should let you see him before they leave, though."

"Wouldn't it be better for him to stay here?" Artemis asked. "Or at least safer?"

"Normally it would, since we don't know yet who Joker told about their identities, but if anyone comes by the house looking for him, it would raise suspicion."

The team looked over and saw Scarlet Jewel making her way to the Zeta Beam.

"Where are you going?" Wally asked, running over to her.

"As much as I'd love to stay, my mother is going to have a cow if I'm not back soon."

"It's already been a week!" Wally said.

"I don't think another night will make a difference," Artemis chimed in.

"And it's a Friday!" M'gann added.

Wally perked up, "Oooh like that song! We gotta get down on Friday!"

Susanne slapped him, "don't mention that song… It'll get stuck in my head."

Everyone laughed as Wally started singing "Friday" holding his hand to his mouth as if he were holding a microphone. He then started running as Susanne tried to impale him, using his speed to get away, but she was almost caught up to him with her own super speed.

"Ok! Ok!" Wally screamed as he continued to run, barely dodging scarlet bullets. "I'll stop!"

The team continued to laugh, their minds leaving the topic of their youngest member. He would be fine, and after a lot of recovery, everything would be over. But they had no idea that it was only the beginning...

…To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you to TheGrayson for the title idea! Honestly? I have no idea if that's what it was meant for or not, but I'm just going with it. So the name of this chapter is credited to you, TG! Thanks a bundle! ^^**

**Also, I just want to share (while typing this is really hard, cuz my cat has her FAT head on the keybored…) that Scarlet Jewel will probably be leaving in this chapter or the next. I just want to have some slight interaction between her and Robin, because she did just kind of save his life…**

Chapter 8

Unexpected Side Effects!

I was finally getting a restful sleep when I felt an irritating shove against my cheek. I forced my eyes open and saw that disgusting, yellow smile directly lined up with my face. The shoving finally stopped, and I discovered that it was more of a poke, and Joker jumped up from leaning over and clapped, "You're awake, Dickie!" he cried.

"Sadly…" I muttered. I honestly just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up, eventually being presumed dead and buried along with the rest of my friends.

I didn't listen to what Joker was saying, thinking about my parents, and wondering why they had sent me back, instead of letting me join them. They said that Batman needed me, but… how could he? He was dead, and I wasn't. They also didn't let him die the first time, so could that mean that he was really alive and just faking, getting ready to strike Joker when his back was turned.

Seeing the motionless body, though, I knew it wasn't so, as the blood had finally stopped flowing from the wound when the heart stopped beating. All I could do was sit and wait for Joker to be done with me and send me after my newly-found father.

Joker reached up to my face and grabbed the corners of my lips, "Turn that frown—" he said, twisting my mouth up, "Upside down!" he held his hands in place for a moment before backing up a little bit, not moving his hands, "Now keep that pose!"

He let go and ran over to a table and grabbed a bottle of glue, replacing his hands on my face. I didn't bother trying to escape from the cold liquid as he squirted it into the creases he created in my face, trying to force a smile.

He again stepped back and surveyed his work, before smiling even more than humanly possible, "There's still something missing."

He ran over to the table again and pulled out a stick of bright red lipstick, coming back over and smothering it all over my face, "That's better!" he yelled, clapping. "Now, stay there!"

He left the room and came back a minute later with an old fashioned camera, positioning it for a picture, and then slapping the top down. "Got it!" he exclaimed, then looked at the slot where the picture should have come out of, smacking the side of the box several times, before noticing a button. "Ooh that's how it works!"

He replaced the top and positioned it again, this time pushing the button and laughing gleefully as the picture began to slide out.

"Now this will be part one!" he said, placing the picture on the table, "of the scrapbook of our time together!"

He pranced out of the room after that, grabbing the picture off of the table and shutting the door behind him. I finally noticed the smell of death creeping it's way into my nostrils. The smell of burning flesh and coppery blood invaded the far corners of the room, circulating around with the single window closed.

I decided to try removing the nails, but discovered that it was impossible, especially in my left arm, which felt like it was made of stone and had a burning arrow through it. I discovered that my right leg was also broken, which explained the pain flowing through it like it was being carried along down a river.

I finally was able to ignore the smell of blood and allowed myself to drift off to sleep. Joker didn't seem to be coming back anytime soon, and he didn't even seem too keen on torture when I was sleeping, so it seemed the best thing to do. The last thing I heard was a distant sound of "He needs you, Robin…"

**Young Justice League**

Scarlet Jewel entered the room silently, making her way to the bed and sitting down in a chair next to it, shifting uncomfortably in the silence. She looked at the small boy laying in the bed, amazed the he was actually the renowned "Boy Wonder."

"Robin, the Boy Wonder," she whispered. "You know, hearing about you made me really start patrolling. I hid behind my mother for so long, doing as she said, afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't, but you… you joined up with Batman, who god knows why, and put your life on the line for strangers every night. You remind me of…" she stopped short, thinking of when she first started fighting crime.

She shook her head, "She got herself killed, making me work for her. You're nothing like her, actually. You're strong, selfless, loving… just like… her. But we're not talking about her, now are we? I know you were there when it happened. Saw her death, but you didn't realize what it meant.

"I'm gonna be leaving tonight. The Team wants me to stay, but… it's not my place. I just wanted to say goodbye, and make sure that you're hanging in there. Batman is really worried about you; it's almost as if you're his son or something. If you are his son, you're lucky that your dad is a hero… my dad is dead.

"Don't leave Gotham like this, ok? I mean, it's a wreck. It always has been, but Batman can't do it without you. He's strong, yeah, but he's not invincible. I mean, I barely know the guy, but I can tell that without you, he's half of what he normally is. So, Robin, just stay, ok? Don't leave him… he needs you, Robin."

With that, she got up and crept out of the room and into the room that the team had given her, unaware oh the man who had been sitting in the shadows, watching her.

She changed into her old costume which had been fixed by Black Canary, pulled on her boots and activated her powers, making her way silently to the Zeta Beam.

"You don't want to be here when he wakes up?" she turned at the voice and saw Batman standing in the doorway.

She sighed, "Tell him I said sorry I couldn't stay. My mother will kill me if I'm not back soon."

"Your mother targets men," Batman pointed out.

"And daughters who don't fight for her. Besides; he doesn't need me here. He needs you."

Batman stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, "you brought us to him, and for that, I owe you my life. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to call." He grabbed one of her hands and placed a Bat-shaped communicator in it. "I won't tell the team."

The next morning, Wally was furious, worried, and overall not whelmed.

"She left?" he asked for the 27th time. "She just up and left? Really?"

"Well, she's not here," Artemis said. "She probably left in the middle of the night."

Batman came out into the main hall with Dick in his arms, ignoring the team until he reached the Zeta Beam.

"Call if you need anything," he said. "I'm going to be running some blood tests, and you all will know if I find anything."

"What kind of anything?" Superboy asked.

"The reason for these nightmares and the strange behavior," Bruce replied. "He's smiling, but it's not natural. It's as if he's being forced to somehow."

"But Joker couldn't have done anything, could he?" M'gann asked. "I mean, he wasn't injecting anything into Robin when we found him."

"He wasn't, but there could have been something else. I remembered I had removed an IV from Dick's arm before leaving. Joker isn't a very scientific mind, but Scarecrow could easily have made thing for in case we found them."

"So fear gas?" Artemis asked.

"Or something like it," Bruce replied. "At this point, it's hard to tell. It could be a new version of the fear gas, or just a new drug in general, but like I said, I'm going to do some tests and find out."

"What will we be doing?" Aqualad asked.

"Waiting," Bruce replied. "Also, there is going to be a conference later today as to why Dick has been out of school. I want you all to be there, to represent the Justice League."

"What will it be about?" Wally asked.

"We're telling them the truth… or at least part of the truth. Our story is that Dick was taken by the Joker out of our house late at night and Batman, along with the Young Justice team, were able to bring him back to us."

"Won't they be suspicious as to why Batman isn't there?" Superboy asked.

"Batman will have been seen leaving to go on a mission with the Justice League."

The Team nodded their understanding before saying goodbye to Bruce.

Bruce entered the Batcave where Alfred was waiting.

"His room has been set up, Master Bruce," Alfred said.

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said, setting Dick down on a small metal table to change into a suit before lifting Dick back up and going up to the boy's room, setting him down in the bed, careful of his injuries.

"Are you sure about making this public, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, looking extremely worried.

"I'm sure, Alfred. Red Arrow is going to be coming by to look after Dick during the conference, just in case anything changes. But for now, I need to find out what's causing…" he pointed to the inhuman smile on his sons' face, "this."

Alfred nodded and Bruce picked up a syringe from the bedside table, disinfecting a small area of Dick's good arm and inserting the needle, drawing a tube of blood. He left the room silently, making his way to the Batcave where he began doing his tests, comparing the unknown chemicals he discovered with Scarecrow's original Fear Gas. There were differences, for sure, but what they did was hard to tell.

He glanced at his watch and stood up from his seat, heading up into the mansion just as Roy got there.

"He's up in his room," he told the younger man. "He's still unconscious, but hopefully it will pass soon."

Roy nodded, "Are you sure it's smart to tell the public about this?"

"Honestly? I think it will raise suspicion, but right now it's all we can do. People need to know where Dick Grayson went, and hopefully they won't dig too deep and discover the truth."

With that, he walked to the car, where Alfred opened the door for him to get inside and closed it behind him, before taking his own seat in the front and driving off, unsure of what would happen next…

…to be continued…

**A/N: Yes, SJ is gone, maybe to make a slight appearance in other stories, but she was never to be a main character. I, too, hate stories with OC's, but it was just too tempting, which is why it was over just as fast as it was done… If you want to know more of her back story, I am currently doing a comic book about her, and it will be on DeviantArt once I get my tablet, which will hopefully be soon, so I will post a link to that once it happens ^^ Don't forget to push that fun looking button down there, while you're at the bottom of the page ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Christmas Bells are Ringing

Bruce stepped onto the small stage, the Young Justice team behind him. He didn't bother smiling when the cameras flashed, knowing what he was about to tell the public. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, getting the attention he wanted.

"Gotham City," he began. "As many of you know, I adopted a child last week, Richard Grayson, who has been living with me for the past four years, after the death of his parents. The day that the adoption was finalized, our house was broken into, and Richard was taken." He paused for a minute before continuing.

"At first, I tried to cover it up. I tried to find him on my own. Yesterday afternoon, the Batman came to my door, with Richard in his arms, beaten, broken… afraid." He paused when he felt his voice start to shake. "The Batman and the Young Justice League found him in Diceville, with the help of a new hero, Scarlet Jewel. I invited the Batman to be here today, but sadly, he had business with the Justice League, so standing behind me is the Young Justice League.

"These heroes are only kids, but still heroes, none the less. They made the decision to become heroes on their own, each and every one of them, and I would like to express my gratitude to them all. We, as adults, underestimate kids; tell them to stay at home, that they can't make a difference. I, myself, have treated Richard in this manner, but this past week as taught me that it doesn't take money, or a cape to be a hero. It takes heart, kindness, selflessness.

"These heroes, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis and Superboy go out, every night and put their lives on the line for us, not just in Gotham, but Star City, Central City, and Happy Harbor.

"I would like to present each of these heroes with an award, for their valiant works that we ignore every day. With the help of their mentors, these children have become adults, and for them, age doesn't matter."

Alfred came onstage carrying a wooden container lined with satin, containing five, small, golden medals. The Team stood awkwardly, not expecting medals. They had just been doing their jobs, but then it made sense that Gotham's White Knight would be extremely grateful for the rescue of his son. Right now, they weren't having medals clipped onto their costume by the Fearless Batman, but Bruce Wayne.

Everyone clapped as Bruce stepped to the side of the team. Cameras started clicking and reporters started calling out questions.

"Mr. Wayne, is there any news on Richard's recovery?"

"Mr. Wayne, when should Richard be expected back in school?"

"It is still unsure of when he will recover, though the Justice League has offered to find the best doctors from across the planet. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other matters I must attend to."

Bruce waved to the crowd and made his way off of the platform, the Team smiled and followed him.

As soon as they were away from the reporter's questions, Bruce turned to the team.

"I'm going to run some more tests on the chemicals I found," he said. "Scarecrow may have advanced the Fear Gas, which means that there will be side effects. Mixed with the Joker Venom, he may not be the same Dick we knew."

Alfred opened the door to the limo and closed it behind the man, waving goodbye to the team before getting into the driver's seat and leaving.

Roy agreed to stay for a while longer while Bruce did some more research and Alfred went shopping, just in case anything happened.

A few days went by, and noting was discovered. Bruce did as much as he could while at home, but with working and patrol, he didn't have much time until the next weekend. Alfred would stay by Dick's side most of the time, though they left the door open when he had to go downstairs for anything.

"Recognized, Batman, 02," the computer's voice rang out as the room lit up from the Zeta Beam.

"Batman!" Wall exclaimed, running over to the man. "Did you find anything?"

Bruce walked past the speedster and into the sitting room, where the rest of the Team sat. "I found something," he announced.

"Is it good news, or bad?" Artemis asked.

"Both," Bruce replied. "Which do you want first?"

"Let's do the good news," M'gann said, perking up slightly.

Bruce nodded, "I figured out what this Fear Gas does. The old version would attack as soon as it was inhaled, but this must be injected in order for it to work, and even then, the victim must be asleep before anything happens. When injected in small doses, it will only last for a few hours, but it seems that it had been being injected into Dick for at least fifteen minutes before we found him.

"The victim should wake up as soon as the drug wore off, but this much of it at once would induce a coma."

"Mixed with the Joker Venom?" Aqualad asked.

Batman sighed, "The gas is made to show the victim their worst nightmares. Added in with Joker Venom would make it more physical; whatever is happening in the dream is physically happening to the body, with the exception of bleeding, but he is still vulnerable to pain."

"What's the bad news?" Superboy asked.

"I can't find a cure yet," Bruce replied. "I have to go back to work tomorrow, but Flash has offered to continue searching. Wallace, if you would be interested in helping, you are more than welcome. You both have a mind for science, so you will be able to find things that I can't."

"Who is supervising Robin?" Kaldur asked.

"Red Arrow, for now, but he can't stay forever. Alfred is helping when he can, but he's trying to get ready for Christmas next weekend, and is planning on visiting family."

"I'll help!" M'gann said, before blushing. "I mean, I'm sure everyone would be willing too. I don't know if anyone else has, but I finished my shopping months ago, and Bumblebee practice is off for the weekend, so I'm not doing… anything…"

Kaldur smiled, "I would be happy to help, though on Friday I will be heading back to Atlantis until Sunday."

"My mom shouldn't mind me stopping by, but I'm pretty busy all this week. I'll try, though," Artemis said.

"I have nothing better to do," Superboy said, glancing at M'gann, who blushed even redder until she looked like a half-ripe tomato.

"I'll help Uncle Barry with the research," Wally finally said, understanding the glance that the Martian and clone shared.

Bruce nodded, "Thank you, all of you."

"I should be getting home," Artemis said. "It's getting late."

"I'll walk you to the beam," Wally said, smirking slightly. "See you tomorrow at the mansion, guys." They both waved behind them and entered through the beam.

"I will return tomorrow," Kaldur said, following the two. "Goodnight."

"You two should also get to bed," Bruce said. "It's going to be a long week."

**Christmas Eve Night**

Barry and Wally literally ran out of the Batcave and into the mansion, right up the stairs into Dick's room where Bruce sat at his side, Superboy and M'gann against the wall. Artemis had gone home earlier that day, and Kaldur wouldn't be back from Atlantis until the morning after.

"We figured it out!" They yelled in unison as they swung the door open.

Bruce jumped up immediately, looking to the speedsters for an answer.

"It's like he's trapped inside his mind," Barry said.

"The only way to get him out is to free him," Wally continued.

"How do we do that?" Superboy asked.

They all seemed to ponder this for a moment, then Bruce looked up, "When I killed Robin a few months ago, Jon was able to get into his head and speak to him."

"So could I go into his head and get him out?" M'gann asked.

Bruce shook his head, "He was crying when we were on the ship, asking about Aqualad… he must think that all of us who went to save him were killed. Seeing you there would confuse him, and might do damage."

"But Uncle J'onn won't be back until tomorrow," M'gann said.

Bruce looked between his son and the Martian, "Then we wait until tomorrow. But for now, you all can stay here for the night," he walked over to the speedsters, "Thank you."

"Any time, Bruce," Barry replied.

"I'm going to get a message out to Jon and have him come here as soon as he gets back," Bruce said, walking into the hall past the speedsters. "All of you, get some sleep," he looked at his watch and smiled, "And Merry Christmas."

Barry watched as the billionaire walked down the stairs and into the study, "Merry Christmas, Bruce," he whispered.

**Robin, Christmas Morning**

Joker had decided that he liked the idea of drugging me. I had no idea what this drug was, but all I knew was it was cold, and I couldn't move my body anymore. He had replaced the cuff around my neck at some point, though whether it was days or weeks before was a mystery to me.

I glanced around the room yet again, still holding on to that little bit of hope that Batman's long-dead body would get up and free me, wrapping me in his strong arms and telling me that it would be ok. But again, it didn't happen, the body just lay there, slowly decomposing in the dried blood.

Then I realized that Batman couldn't bring me the comfort I needed. Bruce could, though, but Bruce was Batman, which meant that Bruce was dead, and there was nothing.  
>Shivers went down my spine once again as the IV continued to send some unknown substance into my body. It had been three weeks. Three weeks of torture, laughter, fear, and pain.<br>I wanted Bruce. In fact, I needed him right then, as I heard the door opening.  
>I tried to focus on happy thoughts, and not what was going to happen to me next.<em>My<em>_parents,__Bruce,__the__team,__Alfred,__school__…_ I continued to think, not listening to the high pitched voice, or the laughter.  
>I felt the chair start rocking back and forth, causing my ankles to yet again move up and down, scraping against the wire that tied them to the bottom of the chair, opening up old, infected scabs. I felt the chair start to rock harder, pulling at the nails that had been hammered into my feet.<br>I felt lightheaded again, probably at the thought of losing even more blood than I already had.  
><em>Alfred's<em>_amazing__cooking,__being__adopted,__becoming__Bruce's__heir__…_ the thoughts continued, until I felt a slap across my face, forcing me back into reality.  
>"Are you ignoring me, Robbie?" the high voice rang out, sounding mock offended.<br>I felt the white hand cup my chin and pull it over to look into the eyes of the one and only Joker.

"…What do you want…?" I asked. I was dehydrated, and didn't think I would last much longer. When Scarecrow was around, he at least gave me water, but that only lasted a week.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" He cried, throwing his arms in the air. "I got you a present!"

He held out a long, thin box to me, but then a light bulb seemed to go off inside of his head.

"Oooh, right! You can't open it; you're a little tied up!" He cried. "Let me heeelp you!"

He gleefully started ripping the paper off of the box, throwing it around the room until it was completely gone. He pulled the lid of the box off and pulled out a crowbar. "Ooh look at that! How nice!"

He tossed the bar up and down in his hands, examining it, "Now, what would you do with this? Nothing! Guess that means I get to use it!"

He stopped tossing it and raised it above his head before slamming it down on my body. I bit my lip to keep from frying out, focusing on that pain, rather than the throbs all over my body.

"This leg seems to be doing much better," he said, looking down at the spot where he shattered my knee the last time. "Let's try the other, see how good your reflexes are!"

I couldn't keep the scream in any longer as he slammed down and I felt the bone break. I finally blacked out from the pain of it all, just barely registering as the door opened and closed.

I felt my eyes closing when I heard a distant voice in the back of my head, _"__It__'__s__ok,__Dick.__We__'__re__coming__to__get__you.__"_

**Wayne Manor, Christmas Day, 1:23 PM**

Bruce greeted J'onn as soon as he reached the house, leading the Martian up to Dick's room where the Team—including Roy—was waiting.

"You know what you're doing?" Bruce asked as J'onn examined the boy.

"I do," J'onn replied, "I require silence."

The Team nodded and continued to watch as J'onn closed his eyes and placed one of his hands on Dick's head, focusing on getting past the barriers.

**Robin, Christmas Day, 1:24 PM**

I opened my eyes slowly, praying that Joker wouldn't be there. I did a once over of the room, just to be safe, starting at the door and going as far as my eyes would allow, taking in the bodies of my friends, once again. Batman, Kid Flash, J'onn… I paused and looked back. J'onn wasn't there before. And he sure wasn't dead; he was standing, looking around at the sad sight of the Team, then his eyes stopped on me.

"Jon?" I asked.

"I'm here, Dick," He replied. "I'm going to get you out."

"Joker…"

"He can't hurt you anymore," J'onn quickly went to work with the nail, pulling all four of them out at once with his mind, using his telekinesis to quickly undo all of the chains. "We're going home."

I nodded as he pulled out the IV and lifted me into his arms.

"You two aren't going anywhere!"

I looked to the door and saw Joker standing there, holding several knives in his hands.

"J'onn!" I cried, holding onto the Martian as tight as I could.

"It's ok," the Martian said before turning his head to the Joker. "You've had him in this nightmare long enough, Joker. Besides; try as you may, but you can not harm me in this form."

Joker started laughing, "But that's where you're wrong, Green Man! I can harm you any way I choose!"

"You will not have the chance," J'onn said, flying up through the ceiling as Joker threw the knives. The Martian sped up when one knife almost hit him, slowly vanishing from the hellish nightmare.

**Wayne Manor, 1:30 PM**

I opened my eyes, slowly adjusting to the sunlight. The first thing I was aware of was a hand on my head, followed by pain, all over my body. I heard sighs of relief, and looked around, seeing the Team all standing around. My eyes stopped on Bruce, who looked ready to cry.

"Hey…" I managed to say. My throat felt like it had needles stuck into it, but I ignored it.

Bruce smiled and came forward, more power walking than running, and helped me to sit up before wrapping his arms around me. I was shocked when I felt wet spots dripping down onto my back.

"Merry Christmas, Dick," He said, then let me go and turned to J'onn, "Thank you… thank you so much."

J'onn simply nodded. I saw the Team watching as if Batman crying wasn't something that a normal person saw. Which, of course, it wasn't.

…To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sad to say, it's over. It was so much fun hearing from all of you, seeing your reactions and getting to talk with some of you on the side over these past few months. I know this story is shorter than the other two, but I honestly don't know where to go from here, so this is it. Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed, favourited, and alerted me. All of your support has meant so much, and I can't wait to see you in I Die Without You.**

Epilogue

Dear God, I Dreamt that I could Fly

The next couple of days went by extremely slowly. Bruce announced to the public that I was, in fact, alive. The overall injury assessment was the worst one yet, though, consisting of two broken legs, a broken arm, a few ribs, and a concussion. The smile glued to my face had eventually gone away after waking up, but the other injuries stayed.

Luckily, though, after two weeks of being comatose, some of the wounds were partly healed.

News Years came, bringing with it a massive party in the manor. Bruce arranged for me to be at the mountain for the night with the Team, keeping me away from the press. Alfred had a wheelchair in the Batcave, ready to send it through the Zeta Beam with us.

Bruce wasn't keen on the idea of a wheelchair, but he agreed to send it along, incase I needed to get around. Normally, I could have just used crutches, but with a broken arm, that wasn't an option. I also couldn't just lean against someone to move, seeing as how both of my legs were broken.

Bruce lifted me into his arms and went down into the Batcave.

"Now, if you need anything, Kaldur is in charge. If anything happens that the Team can't handle, call the League; Clark is going to the party as a reporter, so we have a signal in case anything comes up."

"I got it," I said, leaning my head against Bruce's chest, closing my eyes slightly. Bruce had managed to get the remainder of the gas out of my system, so I didn't have to worry about being stuck in my mind again with the Joker.

When we reached the Batcave, Bruce set me down in the wheelchair and steered me to the Zeta Beam and the computer announced our arrival in Mount Justice.

Wally was at my side in a split second, listing off all of the things we were going to do that night, watching the massive ball dropping was one of them.

Bruce chuckled slightly and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Don't stay up all night. I'll be back late."

I nodded, "Go finish setting up, I'll be fine."

Bruce turned to the Team, "Don't burn the place down."

Everyone looked at M'gann and laughed as she ran into the kitchen upon seeing smoke coming out of the stove. "My pizza!"

Bruce told Kaldur what he had told me about Clark being at the party if needed, and the Atlantean nodded, saying something that only he, Bruce and Supes could hear.

"So, we have this all planned out," Wally said. "I hope you're hungry, because I got backup food incase something happened to the pizza, so we have these fun like pizza bites, those amazingly delicious Mexican things, with the steak and cheddar, buffalo wings, meatballs…" I eventually tuned out what the speedster was saying after he got to the tenth item on the list.

"Shut up and put in a movie, Baywatch," Artemis said, coming over to us. "I think he gets the point that we have way too much food."

"Dude, you can't have a party without food!"

Artemis groaned, and I couldn't help but laugh at what their arguments had turned in to.

"What's so funny?" Artemis questioned.

"You guys act like you're married!"

They both turned a deep shade of red at the remark. They would accept it someday.

"I'm…uh…gonna go start heating up some of this stuff," Wally said, quickly walking away.

I snickered as he tried to open one of the bags of frozen food, but ended up exploding it everywhere when he pulled too hard.

"Idiot," Artemis muttered before turning to me. "Here, you can sit with Superboy while we start cooking."

I nodded and she wheeled me over to the couch where Supes was watching the fuzzy screen yet again.

"You sure you don't want it turned on?" I asked.

"No," he replied, not looking at me. He shifted awkwardly away from the edge of the couch when Artemis left me next to him, seeming to think, once again, that I would shatter is he got too close.

It amazed me how protective the clone had become since we first met him. He seemed to go from wanting to kill Wally, Kaldur and I, to hating the world, so becoming like the older brother I never had. If we ever had to go out undercover, the two of us could totally pass as brothers.

"So, uh, how's school going?" I asked. I hadn't talked to Superboy much in the past couple of months, with all of the work of being adopted, missions, and school, it seemed like I didn't have time to really just hang out with the Team.

"Fine," he said, shifting yet again.

"_Recognized,__Speedy,__B06,__"_ the computer's voice rang out. I turned and saw Roy walking into the cave, glancing around.

"Roy!" Wally exclaimed, running out to greet the archer. "You came!"

"Of course I came," the older boy said, the hint of a slight smile on his face.

Wally went back to work in the kitchen, where he was placing frozen junk food on cookie sheets. Roy came over and sat on the couch across from me, throwing his arms over the back.

"How you feeling, Dick?"

"Better," I said. "How's college?"

He seemed to ponder this a little, "not bad. There are plenty of girls," he winked.

"Well, aren't you lucky?" I said, leaning back slightly in the chair. When Alfred had gotten the thing, I was hoping for the kind of Professor X had in the X-Men, but sadly, it was just one of those extremely uncomfortable ones made for kids. Yes, it was created for children, not teenagers. It was an insult on my height.

Roy laughed, which surprised me, "But then again, who wants to date a superhero?"

I smirked, "Lots of people…who don't mind being human targets."

We both started laughing, and Superboy simply stared at the grey and black screen.

After about half an hour, Wally came out holding a massive plate with a little of everything on it in one hand, and one of those TV tables in the other. He set down the table and put the plate on top of it.

"Your dinner is served, Master Richard," he said, trying his best to sound like Alfred.

"Thanks, buddy," I said, looking at the piles and piles of food and wondering where he got such a huge plate.

"Nooo problemo!" he replied, making his way back into the kitchen and serving himself massive piles of everything, skipping over the veggies and dip.

The rest of the Team sat down with their food, holding their plates on their laps as Wally pulled out a pile of DVDs. We decided to watch Harry Potter. Once we got to the part of the second one with the spiders, M'gann was on Superboy's lap, covering her eyes.

I didn't realize I fell asleep, but when I woke up, it was getting close to midnight, and I had just had the most amazing dream. I dreamed of being back with my parents at Haly's circus, flying above the crowd. But in my dream, there were no wires, just defying gravity.

"Dude, Dick, the ball is dropping in like, 5 minutes!" Wally said, changing the channel.

"I've got the cider!" M'gann cried, floating out of the room and coming back with wine glasses in one hand and two bottles of sparkling cider in the other.

She handed a glass to everyone, placing mine of the table next to me and filled them halfway with the bubbly liquid.

Wally started counting down with the people in New York City, going down from 10. We all clinked glasses as everyone on the TV started cheering, clapping their hands and whistling.

"Let's watching another movie now!" Wally said, running over to the stack. "Prisoner of Azkaban?"

We all agreed and Wally stuck the disc into the player, plopping down next to the couch next to Artemis. Part way through the movie, I saw M'gann and Conner share a kiss. My eyes wandered to Wally, who had moved his arm onto the back of the couch and slid it around Artemis' shoulders. I couldn't help but smirk as Artemis leaned into the speedster, just slightly, and rested her head on his armpit.

Kaldur and Roy were sitting together, engulfed in the movie and unaware of what was going on between the others.

I pulled a blanket up from the ground next to me and draped it over my legs before pulling it up to my chin. It was cold in the mountain, and I guessed it was snowing outside by now, so I snuggled into the blanket.

I looked back to where Kaldur and Roy were, but Roy was gone. I felt something squishy being placed behind my head, and I looked up to see Roy there, smiling, putting a pillow up for me.

"Thanks," I said.

He nodded and went back to his seat. And there we sat, together, as more than just a team, but a family. Roy may not be there all the time, but he was still there for us when we needed him. Both Artemis and M'gann had shady pasts, but it didn't matter, because I did too. Kaldur was a little boring, but still a good guy, while Superboy was like the overprotective brother who would beat up a guy for pointing a NERF gun at any of us. Wally was… Wally. He wasn't that bright about most things, but when it came to science, he was a genius. He was also my best friend, and no matter how far apart we ended up when we grew up, he always would be.

I sighed and leaned my head into the pillow, taking it all in, because it wasn't every moment that your family was all together and happy. M'gann and Supes may kiss too much, Roy may be too emo, Kaldur could be too strict, and Wally and Artemis fought too often, but for the moment, we were at peace, happy and content.

And here is where I leave you. I hate to say, but there's not really anything interesting that happened next, besides Bruce getting drunk and school starting up again. I guess it's time to go, before Bruce finds out that I'm here, telling you all this, because he would kill me, so I'll end with this, one last time; My name is Richard John Wayne, and I may have kept my mind through insanity, and cheated death, but overall, to sum it up, I walked with disaster… and I felt the aster.

…END…

**A/N: Sooo what do you think? I just want to again say thank you to every one of you. It has been amazing, and I want you to look how for other stories I have planned! I Die Without You will be continued in November for NaNoWriMo, so please be patient. Until then, though, I will be coming out with a shorter story that just may blow your mind. All of you, keep your mind, don't die, and keep feeling the aster! ^^**


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